Monday, November 4, 2013

The problem of drug addiction (masalah jenayah dadah) from an economical point of view...

Note 03

November 4, 2013 at 5:31pm
Masalah Jenayah Dadah –Interdiksi atau Pendidikan Dari Sudut Keseimbangan Pasaran?
 Dicatat oleh El Ferdowsi, 4 November 2013

 
 
Heroin, kokain, dan pelbagai jenis dadah lagi, tidak dapat dinafikan, adalah barang utama dalam pasaran, tentunya khusus dalam pasaran gelap. Kata pensyarah ekonomi Universiti Harvard, Mankiw, setiap tahun kerajaan Amerika Syarikat memperuntukkan berjuta-juta dolar bahkan lebih dalam polisi penyekatan dadah atau interdiksi dadah. Katakanlah kerajaan mula menambah jumlah pegawai persekutuan untuk menyekat jenayah dadah, maka apakah yang akan terjadi kepada bekalan dadah dalam pasaran? Maka ajar Mankiw, kita akan cuba meneroka persoalan ini dalam 3 turutan langkah:

1.    Kita akan menentukan samada keluk permintaan dan bekalan beralih atau tidak.
2.    Dan jika ada keluk yang beralih, maka ke arah manakah peralihan keluk terbabit.
3.    Kemudian, barulah kita akan meneliti samada peralihan tersebut mempengaruhi keseimbangan harga dan kuantiti barang dalam pasaran.

Interdiksi dadah dalam polisi kerajaan kali ini –adalah lebih bersifat untuk mempengaruhi bekalan dadah, diulang, bekalan –dan bukannya permintaan dadah buat masa ini. Dijangka, apabila kerajaan berjaya menyekat penyeludupan dadah dengan menahan ramai penyeludup, maka bekalan dadah akan terganggu atau tersekat. Maka, tentunya harga dadah per unit menjadi semakin tinggi –dan bekalan dadah berkurang sekalipun pada mana-mana titik harga. Diulang, sekalipun pada mana-mana titik harga.
Sekalipun begitu, walaupun bekalan dadah mulai berkurang, namun perlu diingat, polisi itu tadi adalah untuk mempengaruhi bekalan, dan bukannya permintaan, maka apakah yang terjadi terhadap permintaan? Permintaan sebenarnya tidak berubah. Kenapa? Mudah jawapannya, kerana penagih dadah akan tetap memerlukan dadah –dan mereka sanggup membelinya walau apa jua cara sekalipun, sudah namanya pun ketagih.

Maka pada graf 1, [Sila lihat Graf 1] berdasarkan pada graf tersebut, interdiksi dadah oleh kerajaan telah menimbulkan situasi di mana keluk bekalan dadah mulai beralih ke kiri (dari kanan ke kiri) –sementara keluk permintaan dadah tidak berubah. Maka apakah yang terjadi? Ternyata yang jadi, adalah harga seimbang mulai meningkat, sambil kuantiti seimbang menurun. Maka, kesimpulannya, penurunan kuantiti seimbang (equilibrium quantity) dalam graf terbabit, menunjukkan interdiksi kerajaan dalam penyeludupan dadah berjaya mengurangkan pengunaan dadah. Namun, apakah itu memadai? Mengurangkan pengunaan dadah yang kesannya ke atas pembekal dadah belum tentu mencapai objektif keseluruhan, kerana itu hanya dari sisi pembekal. Untuk mengurangkan kadar jenayah berkaitan dadah, ianya perlu lebih daripada polisi sebegitu.

Maka ingat balik, sudah kita bincangkan tadi, bahawasanya apabila permintaan dadah itu tetap sama sekalipun perbekalan menurun, maka boleh kita katakana bahawa permintaan itu tidak anjal, atau dalam bahasa Inggerisnya, dipanggil sebagai inelastic demand. Penagih dadah, akan cuba sedaya upaya untuk mendapatkan duit cepat (quick cash) untuk membeli kuantiti dadah yang dimahukannya –maka ini menyumbang kepada kes kecurian, rompakan, ragut dan sebagainya. Maka, kejadian ini akan buat kita terfikir, apakah polisi interdiksi kerajaan ini sebenarnya rupanya menjadi sebab utama kejadian jenayah curi dan rompak berlaku? Atau dalam ertikata lain, niat kerajaan mengurangkan bekalan dadah sebenarnya telah menjadi sebab utama jenayah curi atau rompak meningkat –ianya diterjemahkan sebagai kesan sebalik, adverse effect.

Maka, dek kerana kesan sebaliknya pula yang berlaku, maka apabila kerajaan melaksanakan polisi interdiksi terbabit, maka kerajaan juga wajib melaksanakan polisi pendidikan berkenaan dadah. Rakyat mula diajar supaya berhati-hati dengan preskripsi ubat-ubatan, atau di Malaysia, slogan “Dadah Musuh Negara” diuar-uarkan. Maka, pada graf 2, [Sila lihat Graf 2] akibat kadar permintaan dadah menurun, menunjukkan kepada kita bahawa keluk permintaan mula beralih, beralih ke kiri (tanda berkurangnya permintaan). Maka harga seimbang dan kuantiti seimbang turut menurun –sekaligus, membuktikan bahawasanya polisi pendidikan mengenai bahaya dadah rupanya lebih berkesan berbanding polisi interdiksi kerajaan.

Namun Mankiw sekali lagi mengingatkan kita bahawasanya, para penyokong polisi interdiksi kerajaan mungkin tetap berhujah bahawa walaupun jenayah berkaitan dadah meningkat secara drastik dalam tempoh masa singkat, namun dalam tempoh jangka masa lama, ianya tetap berkesan. Kiranya, dalam jangka masa yang lama, akibat harga dadah yang mahal, akan mengurangkan galakan untuk remaja yang kononnya baru berjinak akan membatalkan hasrat mereka untuk terlibat dengan penggunaan dadah.
Maka, satu persoalan sebelum saya tangguhkan catatan ini, apakah akan jadi sekiranya Malaysia kita melaksanakan kedua-dua polisi tersebut sekaligus?

Dicatat oleh El Ferdowsi, 4 November 2013.

Rujukan:

1. Mankiw, N. Gregory. Principles of Microeconomics, Edisi Keenam.

  •  
    Anas Abd Jalil keluk ini menggambarkan equilibrium dan dalam perspective neo-classikal
  •  
    Mazlyn Mustapha Penyelesaian kepada masalah ketagihan dadah sebenarnya terletak lebih kepada mengubati ketagihan tersebut dengan menggunakan 'dadah' atau ubat yang sesuai, dibawah pengawasan dan rawatan oleh doctor yang diiktiraf. Penyelesaian ekonomi hanya menumpukan perhatian kepada 'demand'/permintaan dan 'supply'/bekalan, yang menentukan harga 'pasaran' dadah. Harga yang tinggi/rendah tidak memberi beza kerana mereka 'ketagih' dan akan melakukan apa sahaja untuk mendapatkan dadah tersebut....
  •  
    Anas Abd Jalil masalah penagihan dadah tidak boleh dianalisis dari sudut ekonomi sahaja . .
  •  
    Mazlyn Mustapha Tepat sekali, beberapa minggu yang lepas, sekumpulan doctor dari MPCN/MPCAM telah mengadakan perjumpaan dengan Menteri Dalam Negeri berkenaan hal ini dan memberikan pengesyoran dari segi perubatan, cari terbaik mengatasi masalah ketagihan dadah. Alhamdulillah Menteri telah mengambil langkah yang bijak dan menerima semua isu-isu yang berbangkit. Saya tag Dr Jim Loi, Dr Siddiq Vicious, Dr Peter Chan Teck Hock untuk sama-sama berkongsi pandangan.
  •  
    Tuan Mufti El Ferdöwsi Mazlyn Mustapha, Anas Abd Jalil, ya, saya setuju dengan kalian berdua. Catatan ringkas saya yang ini hanyalah sebuah penelitian dari sudut pasaran dan dasar awam sahaja.

    Kita perlu akan sebuah penyelesaian yang bersifat menyeluruh. Terima kasih atas perhatian kalian.
  •  
    Mazlyn Mustapha Terima kasih kerana tag saya, sekadar berkongsi maklumat. Sebagai seorang doctor dan pelajar MBA, tulisan Tuan Mufti El Ferdowsi ini menarik perhatian saya untuk memberi sedikit ulasan dari perspektif perubatan. Harapan para doctor adalah supaya penagih dadah dapat diberi peluang berubat dan pulih serta kembali menjadi masyarakat yang berguna dan ini adalah hasil program rawatan ketagihan dadah yang sempurna.
  •  
    Tuan Mufti El Ferdöwsi Kita sebagai rakyat awam -dan bukannya kerajaan, satu-satunya cara untuk kita sama-sama mewujudkan 'civil society', adalah sama-sama mendidik saudara-mara dan sahabat kita, serta adik atau anak-anak kita akan baik buruh sebuah tindakan. Kita tidak boleh berlepas tangan dalam sesuatu isu berkaitan dasar awam. Kita harus wujudkan masyarakat yang merdeka dan saksama.

    Sama-sama kita berjuang. Ini hanyalah 'common sense'.
  •  
    Tuan Mufti El Ferdöwsi *Pembetulan: ...akan baik buruk sebuah tindakan...

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Fashion tip

Mazlyn Mustapha
It's so sad to have to send one of my favourite dresses to the repair shop. I'm not sure if the tear was there when I bought it, I guess since it was expensive I didn't expect any defects and thus didn't look for them. This is a lesson.
 
Anyway send it to Za Altera in Midvalley Megamall and I immediately regret it because the charges were expensive and it will take 2 weeks.
 
Instead of cutting of the 'ribbons' at the side, tying it at the neck is a good option...

Spiritual journey and medical schools

Sharing from my inbox:

"Hope you can write something about spiritual journey or how your current life would be beneficial to your next life?"

Every so often I am asked to write about a specific topic, either by friends or sometimes even strangers. 

Someone suggested a motivational/inspirational talk or seminar as a significant percentage of students had failed a recent exam.

To be frank, I was mortified with the percentage of student failure but I was also informed that it was 'normal'. 


In comparison with where I studied medicine, the rate of failure in exams was significantly higher. 

After a while, I began to accept that such rates were in fact 'normal'.

Before I started work at this public institution, I was introduced almost by accident to an author of a parenting book, Dr Rozieta Shaary, and I found out that she would run such talks and seminars. I contacted her and she agreed to help as part of her company's CSR.

The day arrived.

I was sitting in the audience of about 200 or so medical students with another lecturer who was more senior, a Professor who was also very much into the welfare and well-being of junior medical students.

The first thing that Dr Rozieta talked about was 'what we are made off'. I'm pretty sure I've read about this in books prior to that day, but her explanation of the matter really stuck in my mind.

She had several multi-coloured, thicker than usual markers, and started drawing large oval shaped figures on the paper flip-board, in an onion layer like pattern.

The first layer was the physical part, she explained. It's what people see, and the physical part requires food, water, air etc. Within the body, there is the...I'm not sure which came first, but there is the mind and the heart, or the psyche and the emotional part of us. If I'm not mistaken, while it really should be the mind that controls the heart and the body, for a lot of people, its actually the heart that takes precedence.

Humans are creatures of emotion. And the truth is, without it, it would be extremely difficult to perform simple things like making decisions. Read 'emotional intelligence' by Daniel Goleman to understand better. A good example is the stock market.

Last but not least, there in lies the human spirit. It is the part of us that is the most invincible and yet also the most elusive. Behind every significant achievement, for every obstacle and challenge overcome, for every miracle, within it lies the person/s ability to tap into this power, and the good news is, it is available to everyone.

That was the first time I became truly aware of that part of a person that supposedly existed somewhere beneath the other layers. And I am very attracted to stories of how other people were able to triumph against the odds, their tales become a source of inspiration.

How this relates to and benefits one's "next life" of depends on one's faith of what the next life consists of, so I will leave that part to each readers own interpretation. 

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Run for Gaza...


Now that the race is over and the kids have gone out with their dad, I am left to write about the experience on my facebook wall. And what an interesting experience it was!

This time we were early, and this time both myself and my boyfriend participated in the race, although he was doing 10km and myself, forcefully lumped into the 'veteran' category (I still find it hard to believe...whatever), w...as supposed to be doing 7km run.

*****

While we were waiting around for things to start, a facebook friend came up to say hello. I used to hate it when people came to me and they know my name, and I have absolutely no idea who they are...but I find nowadays people are less offended. The same thing happened during the Putrajaya night half marathon and I am still left wondering until today, who was that friend?

*****

Then I saw Nitahain Hashim Kamal in her gear, looking all ready to hit the road. We introduced each other, talked about shoes and bicycles and the upcoming Women's Marathon, and how we are supposed to get a pacer...

*****

If I am not mistaken the conversation went something like this:

Friend: You can ask your husband to be your pacer.
Me: Why do we need a pacer (I mean I have my phone & app)?
Friend: The men cant participate because its a women's marathon.
Me: Oh (well, for the first time in my life, I actually felt sorry for them LOL).
Friend: You can use your husband or someone else's husband.
Me: Excuse me? Someone else's husband? Interesting...

*****

It was exciting, the buzz before the run, everyone pumped up and ready to go. First it was the 10km runners. They handed out these colour coded ribbon that you wear around your neck at the beginning, that was a light blue one.

Then the gun went off and the race begun. Next, us 7km people entered the pit (I don't know what to call it). At this stage, its still fun. There was a celebrity of some sort who was a bit late and we had to wait one or two minutes for her, then there was something wrong with the starting gun.

Myself and Nita glanced to the back before it started and I can see there weren't that many people. Nita said "there's a chance of winning" and I told her "you will definitely win!". I might even get a chance qualifying for the medal. My hopes were up.

In the car earlier on the way to the venue, my boyfriend and I had been discussing about the medal. There are only 50 for each category. Because I had no idea about the number of participants, I honestly did not think that I stood a chance. But I wished for it. I also wondered if there was any certificate. I was hoping for some kind of memento to remind me of the suffering, I mean, experience.

The gun went off and that was the second last time I would see Nita. The other time was when our paths crossed, hers heading the other direction after making a U-turn at the 3.5km halfway mark, and me, slowly jogging towards the U-turn. I wouldn't have seen her had she not called out my name. Wow, I was impressed to see her massive strides. So that is what elite athlete's look like when they run.

It was pretty much monotonous for the next few kilometres. Kept monitoring my pace. I was a bit uncomfortable with the heat because the sun had started to rise and not all of the path was shaded. At one of the water stations, I decided to splash water on my face, which I did at least three times during the PNM. It was a mistake because I applied my eye cream this morning, (I should have washed it off), and that stuff stings if it gets into the eyes, I didn't wear it during the PNHM. And I had my shades on. So for a few moments I was running with my eyes closed. That was fun yet cooling.

At the 3.5km mark they give you another ribbon to wear around your neck and this one was yellow. I saw quite a lot of other runners wearing blue and purple so I presumed they were doing 10km.

When my phone showed 6km, I decided I should pick up the pace. I felt fine, I was confident I could run at a faster pace till the end. Funny thing was, it started to go uphill for about half a kilometre and this really nearly killed me. My pace doubled what I normally run during practise. But I saw other runners suffer too. During this moment of painful silent suffering, it dawned on me this was what the Penang Bridge Run will be like. Uphill for 10.5km. Scary thought. Let's not go there and remain in denial.

Finally the path started to even out again at about 6.5km. I was thinking I should really pick up the pace but I couldn't see anything near the finish line. It seemed pretty far away. As my phone went past 7km, at about 7.5km I stopped to ask one of the officials and he confirmed my assumption, I was off the 7km track and was doing the 10km instead. Well, no wonder I couldn't see anyone else wearing the yellow ribbon. That was it, I thought, my chance to get the medal was gone, I can kiss it goodbye.

To console myself, I just played the usual mind games. This suffering is nothing in comparison to what the people in Gaza have to face. They may not even make it past their 36th birthday like I did. Nor have the chance to complain about not getting a stupid medal for some charity run.

I played all the survivor and power songs I could think of in my mind. I thought about my enemies. That normally gives me a surge of energy. And other things I cant write on my facebook wall.

At 8km, the cramps started. Why oh why did I not drink that pickle juice. Well, no use regretting now. I did everything else except drink pickle juice. I deserved it.

Luckily, it was not 10km. Soon I was in familiar territory and the race actually ended at 8.7km. To my pleasant surprise, I was handed at finisher medal. Yay! But the story isn't over. I took some pictures with my facebook friend and headed to the car with my boyfriend. I just wanted to go home and eat and shower. And massage my crampy legs.

The unthinkable happened. As I swung myself to enter the car (its a bit high because its an SUV), my left leg went into the most painful cramp/spasm I have ever had my entire life. The pain I can say would equal that of childbirth, where I was left speechless and completely consumed. I could not shout, I could not think. All there was, was this awful pain in my left leg, I was frozen, unable to get into the car, half in, half out, making the situation worse.

My husband had to help me into the car. Had I been alone, I would have had to stay like that until the pain subsided, or I might have fell onto the ground if I couldn't keep my balance. I never thought I would use the breathing techniques I learnt during antenatal class ever again, but boy, were they handy. It took a few moments, eventually the intensity reduced and the pain went away on its own.

It's during times like these when you question yourself, why am I doing this? Is it worth it?

Now, alone at home, limping around the house, I consider this an achievement compared to the kimono walk I had after my first HM.

It is definitely worth and I would do it again and again.

For Gaza.